In most of my
Lean-Body Secrets
Newsletters, I like to provide a healthy snack
or meal recipe that not only is delicious, but also
helps to get you closer to that hard-body appearance
that everyone is looking for. In this article, I'd
like to give you healthy food ideas in a different
way. This time, I figured I'd just give you some
ideas of what I stock my fridge and cabinets with.

Remember, if
you don't have junk around the house, you're less
likely to eat junk. If all you have is healthy food
around the house, you're forced to make smart
choices. Basically, it all starts with making smart
choices and avoiding temptations when you make your
grocery store trip. Now these are just some of my
personal preferences, but perhaps they will give you
some good ideas that you'll enjoy.

Alright, so
let's start with the fridge. Each week, I try to
make sure I'm loaded up with lots of varieties of
fresh vegetables. During the growing season, I only
get local produce, but obviously in winter, I have
to resort to the produce at the grocery store. Most
of the time, I make sure I have plenty of vegetables
like zucchini, onions, fresh mushrooms, spinach,
broccoli, red peppers, etc. to use in my morning
eggs. I also like to dice up some lean chicken or
turkey sausage into the eggs, along with some swiss,
jack, or goat cheeses.

By the way I'm
talking about whole eggs, NOT egg whites. Always
remember that the yolk is the most nutritious and
nutrient dense part of the egg, so only eating egg
whites is like throwing away the best part... and
no, it's NOT bad for you because of the
cholesterol... eggs actually raise your GOOD
cholesterol. Try to get free range organic eggs for
the best quality.

Coconut
milk is another staple in my fridge. I like to use
it to mix in with smoothies, oatmeal, or yogurt for
a rich, creamy taste. Not only does coconut milk add
a rich, creamy taste to lots of dishes, but it's
also full of healthy saturated fats. Yeah, you heard
me...I said healthy saturated fats! Healthy
saturated fats like medium chain triglycerides,
specifically an MCT called lauric acid.

Back to the
fridge, some other staples:

Cottage cheese,
ricotta cheese, and yogurt - I like to mix
cottage or ricotta cheese and yogurt together
with chopped nuts and berries for a great
mid-morning or mid-afternoon meal.

Whole flax seeds - I
grind these in a mini coffee grinder and add to
yogurt or salads. Always grind them fresh
because the omega-3 polyunsaturated fats are
highly unstable and prone to oxidation, creating
high levels of free radicals in pre-ground flax.

Nut butters - Plain
old peanut butter has gotten a little old for
me, so I get creative and mix together almond
butter with sesame seed butter, or even cashew
butter with macadamia butter...delicious and
unbeatable nutrition!

Salsa - I try to get
creative and try some of the exotic varieties of
salsas.

Butter - don't believe
the naysayers; butter adds great flavor to
anything and can be part of a healthy diet (just
keep the quantity small because it is calorie
dense...and NEVER use margarine, unless you want
to assure yourself a heart attack).

Avocados - love
them...plus a great source of healthy fats,
fiber, and other nutrients. Try adding them to
wraps, salads, or sandwiches.

Whole grain wraps and
whole grain bread (look for wraps and bread with
at least 3-4 grams of fiber per 20 grams of
total carbs).

Rice bran and wheat
germ - these may sound way too healthy for some,
but they actually add a nice little nutty,
crunchy taste to yogurt or smoothies, or can be
added when baking muffins or breads to add
nutrients and fiber.

Leaf lettuce and
spinach along with shredded carrots - for salads
with dinner.

Frozen fish - I like
to try a couple different kinds of fish each
week. There are so many varieties out there, you
never have to get bored.

Frozen berries -
during the local growing season, I only get
fresh berries, but during the other 10 months of
the year, I always keep a supply of frozen
blueberries, raspberries, blackberries,
strawberries, cherries, etc. to add to high
fiber cereal, oatmeal, cottage cheese, yogurt,
or smoothies

Frozen veggies -
again, when the growing season is over and I can
no longer get local fresh produce, frozen
veggies are the best option, since they often
have higher nutrient contents compared to the
fresh produce that has been shipped thousands of
miles, sitting around for weeks before making it
to your dinner table.

Frozen chicken breasts
- very convenient to nuke up for a quick
addition to wraps or chicken sandwiches for
quick meals.

Frozen buffalo,
ostrich, venison, and other "exotic" lean meats
- Yeah, I know...I'm weird, but I can tell you
that these are some of the healthiest meats
around, and if you're serious about a lean
healthy body, these types of meats are much
better for you than the mass produced,
hormone-pumped beef and pork that's sold at most
grocery stores.

Grass-fed steaks,
burgers, and ground beef - Grassfed meats have
been shown to have as high as, or even higher
levels of omega-3 fatty acids than salmon
(without the mercury). Also, grass-fed meats
have much higher levels of conjugated linoleic
acid (CLA) compared to typical grain-fed beef.

Cans of coconut milk -
to be transferred to a container in the fridge
after opening.

Various antioxidant
rich teas - green, oolong, white, rooibos are
some of the best.

Stevia - a natural
non-caloric sweetener, which is an excellent
alternative to the nasty chemical-laden
artificial sweeteners like aspartame,
saccharine, and sucralose.

Organic maple syrup -
none of that high fructose corn syrup Aunt
Jemima crap...only real maple syrup can be
considered real food. The only time I really use
this (because of the high sugar load) is added
to my post-workout smoothies to sweeten things
up and also elicit an insulin surge to push
nutrients into your muscles.

Raw honey - better
than processed honey... higher quantities of
beneficial nutrients and enzymes. Honey has even
been proven in studies to improve glucose
metabolism (how you process carbs). I use a
teaspoon or so every morning in my teas. Yes, it
is pure sugar, but at least it has some
nutritional benefits... and let's be real, a
teaspoon of honey is only 5 grams of carbs...
certainly nothing to worry about.

Cans of black or
kidney beans - I like to add a couple scoops to
my Mexican wraps for the fiber and high
nutrition content. Also, beans are surprisingly
one of the best sources of youth promoting
antioxidants!

Tomato sauces -
delicious, and as I'm sure you've heard a
million times, they are a great source of
lycopene. Just watch out for the brands that are
loaded with nasty high fructose corn syrup.

Dark chocolate (as
dark as possible) - This is one of my treats
that satisfies my sweet tooth, plus provides
loads of antioxidants at the same time. It's
still calorie dense, so I keep it to just a
couple squares; but that is enough to do the
trick, so I don't feel like I need to go out and
get cake and ice cream to satisfy my dessert
urges.

Organic unsweetened
cocoa powder - I like to mix this into my
smoothies for an extra jolt of antioxidants or
make my own low-sugar hot cocoa by mixing cocoa
powder into hot milk with stevia and a couple
melted dark chocolate chunks.

Lastly,
another thing that's hard to go wrong with is a good
variety of fresh fruits and berries. The staples
such as bananas, apples, oranges, pears, peaches are
good, but I like to also be a little more
adventurous and include things like yellow mangoes,
pomegranates, star fruit, kumquats, pineapples,
papaya, and others. Also, strawberries, blueberries,
raspberries, blackberries, and cherries are some of
the most nutrient and antioxidant-dense fruits you
can eat.

Well, I hope
you enjoyed this special look into my favorite lean
body meals and how I stock my cabinets and fridge.
Your tastes are probably quite different than mine,
but hopefully this gave you some good ideas you can
use next time you're at the grocery store looking to
stock up a healthy and delicious pile of groceries.

Be sure to pick up a copy of my
book The Truth about Six Pack Abs, which introduces you
to the entire comprehensive training and nutritional
program that will turn your body into a lean, ripped
specimen that others will envy!

Mike Geary is a fitness coach, nationally certified
personal trainer (CPT), the author of the
internationally popular book -
The
Truth about Six Pack Abs, and a contributing writer
for Weider Publications, which publishes Men's Fitness,
Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and others.